Sleeping Arrangements

Rating:
Summary: Off-beat, kooky fun with heart
Review: "Sleeping Arrangements" is itself a "sleeper". It's a wild romp through the growing up years of Lily in the Bronx. The people in Lily's life are all eccentric (which makes this book hilarious) and she herself is a bit on the fringe of what anyone would consider normal. In spite of the number of crazy people who seem to come and go in Lily's life, the one constant in her life is love. She seems surrounded by it, even if some of the people supplying the love are on the dysfunctional side of life. I enjoyed this book tremendously. In contrast to "Bee Season"- a similar saga of a young girl growing up in the Bronx in a dysfunctional family- this book was much brighter and more entertaining. It's not a perfect piece of fiction but it was a fast, enjoyable read. "Sleeping Arrangements" will keep you AWAKE!

Rating:
Summary: The Marx Uncles' "A Night at the Soap Opera"
Review: I CAME TO THIS NOVEL FROM THE COVER AND TITLE. I WAS LOOKING FOR LIGHT AND FUNNY AND HEARTWARMING. IT WAS HEARTWARMING, CHARMING, AND, AT TIMES, HUMEROUS.

WHAT I GOT FROM THIS BOOK WAS A GENUINE SENSE OF FAMILY COMMITMENT. LILY HAD AN UNFORTUNATE BEGINNING (LOSING BOTH PARENTS, SEPARATELY) BUT LIVED A LIFE THAT NOT MANY WILL EVER EXPERIENCE. SHE LEARNED ABOUT TRUE SENSE OF LOVE, COMMITMENT, AND SECURITY FROM HER UNCLES, HER DEMENTED GRANDMOTHER, AND HER GIRLFRIENDS THROUGHOUT HER YOUNG LIFE.

I'VE READ OTHER REVIEWS, STATING THAT SHE LIVED IN A DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY. WHAT IS A "FUNCTIONAL/NORMAL FAMILY"? WHAT DEPICTS A NORMAL FAMILY....?? THIS WAS A FAMILY WHO CAME TOGETHER IN TRAGEDY AND MANAGED TO ALWAYS BE THERE FOR EACH OTHER. THEY NEVER LET EACH OTHER DOWN AND HUNG IN UNTIL THE END.

IT WAS BEAUTIFULLY DONE. BEING JEWISH AND FROM NEW YORK, IT WAS FUN TO SEE THE SIMILARITIES IN ANOTHER HOME....!!!

Rating:
Summary: HEARTWARMING
Review: I CAME TO THIS NOVEL FROM THE COVER AND TITLE. I WAS LOOKING FOR LIGHT AND FUNNY AND HEARTWARMING. IT WAS HEARTWARMING, CHARMING, AND, AT TIMES, HUMEROUS.

WHAT I GOT FROM THIS BOOK WAS A GENUINE SENSE OF FAMILY COMMITMENT. LILY HAD AN UNFORTUNATE BEGINNING (LOSING BOTH PARENTS, SEPARATELY) BUT LIVED A LIFE THAT NOT MANY WILL EVER EXPERIENCE. SHE LEARNED ABOUT TRUE SENSE OF LOVE, COMMITMENT, AND SECURITY FROM HER UNCLES, HER DEMENTED GRANDMOTHER, AND HER GIRLFRIENDS THROUGHOUT HER YOUNG LIFE.

I'VE READ OTHER REVIEWS, STATING THAT SHE LIVED IN A DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY. WHAT IS A "FUNCTIONAL/NORMAL FAMILY"? WHAT DEPICTS A NORMAL FAMILY....?? THIS WAS A FAMILY WHO CAME TOGETHER IN TRAGEDY AND MANAGED TO ALWAYS BE THERE FOR EACH OTHER. THEY NEVER LET EACH OTHER DOWN AND HUNG IN UNTIL THE END.

IT WAS BEAUTIFULLY DONE. BEING JEWISH AND FROM NEW YORK, IT WAS FUN TO SEE THE SIMILARITIES IN ANOTHER HOME....!!!

Rating:
Summary: A Heart-warming Hoot
Review: I loved it. Lily's world is peopled by memorable characters, from her earliest childhood friends, to her wacky but loving uncles and grandmother who step in to raise her when her mother dies. She recreates the bygone world of the up and coming Bronx of the 1950s. Her vivid recollections, so wittingly relayed, make this a real charmer.

Rating:
Summary: The Marx Uncles' "A Night at the Soap Opera"
Review: Like another reader, I was drawn to the unusual cover of this book--a sweet lil' girl's face superimposed over a faded shot of two older men--in these pedophiliactic times of Michael Jackson and Catholic priests, I assumed it was yet another sad story of abuse. Wronnnngg! This is so outrageously funny that you can almost laugh through the sad passages, while still appreciating the depth of tragedy that befell Shaine's unusual childhood. Her uncles really did sound like a couple of Marx brothers, but the love this odd family shared always shines. I'd teach it in my high school classes, but a few passages here and there probably make it questionable--although the haunting description of her continuing search for her father would resonate with many kids. A great find that I stumbled on while hunting for something else at B and Noble.

Rating:
Summary: Not a book for anyone under 16
Review: Rosie Shaine, mother of Cunningham's alter-ego, Lily, insists her husband is still fighting overseas four years after World War II has ended. Uncle Len, tall and thin as Lincoln, wears a pith helmet as he cooks popcorn and tuna croquettes in his pressure cooker. Lily's grandmother, "Etka from Minsk," steals Lily's clothes and jewelry and stashes them under her mattress in their shared bedroom.

What a cast of characters! Yet no matter how peculiar their appearance nor how inappropriate or predictable their behavior, each character in this book reflects a dignity and humanity that makes them larger than their foibles. All the more difficult to achieve when the family is her own, and their behaviors border on the bizarre.

One of my favorite things about this book is its intimate look at the secret language that springs up in families. One day Lily comes home to find her grandmother in distress, pacing, refusing to say what's wrong, until finally "she begins to `oikah' (`oikah' is a verb in our home, applicable when someone, usually Etka, begins to repeat `oy-yoy-yoy' by the hour)."

Laura Cunningham's gift -- and the charm of this book -- is her ability to transform the wild neuroses, annoying habits and predictability of her relatives into a portrait of abiding love and understanding. Under her deft hand, and with great helpings of hilarity, 1950's New York and this devoted family come alive.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS is a fascinating story, and beautifully written, a memoir of the Laura Shaine Cunningham's childhood. It also is one of the saddest books I ever have read, and I was depressed after I completed it. The afterword redeems this book, finally showing the author's appreciation of the sacrifices that members of her family made on her behalf. As such, SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS becomes a celebration of love. Ms. Cunningham's prose is lovely and her memory is crystalline.

Rating:
Summary: I loved this book!
Review: What a surprise...the stories she tells of her childhood is so vivid, creative and spontaneous. As you picture Lily and her friend running through the streets of the Bronx, you want to run along with them...yet, you are also horrified at what they witness and experience. Her memoir shows that you can be innocent and knowing at the same time. Her family members are unique and quirky, but the bottom line is they love Lily, and take very good care of a little girl who never knew her father and lost her mother.

Rating:
Summary: Loved It!
Review: why is Laura Cunningham not well known? This memoir reads like novel, and it's funny, knowing, honest and touching. Laura, or "Lily", lives with her young mother in the Bronx. All she knows of her father is that he's fighting in the war, even though it takes a while for her to realize that WWII is long over. Her mother is vastly relived when the Korean War begins so her story makes sense once more. When her mom dies young, Lily lives with her two eccentric uncles and her addled Russian grandmother. Their oddball family is hilarious, and begs the question of what really makes up a family.

I can picture this as a terrific movie and wonder why no one has discovered it yet. Do yourself a favor and seek out this loving tribute. My sister-in-law lent it to me after a friend lent it to her. It's one of those pass-around novels.